SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook is planning to roll out a new update to Messenger that will allow users to delete sent messages from chat threads within 10 minutes of sending.

A Twitter user spotted the feature listed as "coming soon" in the release notes for version 191.0 of Messenger's iOS client, The Verge reported on Wednesday.

"Coming soon: Remove a message from a chat thread after it's been sent. If you accidentally send the wrong photo, incorrect information or message the wrong thread, you can easily correct it by removing the message within ten minutes of sending it," read the description.

The feature was first discovered and tweeted about by an engineer named Jane Manchun Wong in October while it was being tested.

Amid the data breach and other scandals, the company had been silently deleting messages which were shared through Messenger by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg after which the company said that the ability to retract messages would also be made available to all Messenger users, media had reported in April.

However, no specific date has been announced by the company as to by when would the functionality be finally available for users.

Earlier in March, Facebook released the "delete for everyone" feature on WhatsApp that provides the users an hour-long window to remove sent messages from individual as well as group chats.

Facebook Innovations That Turned Out To Be Duds

of 5

Next

Prev

Play Slideshow

RIP Lifestage

12 Aug, 2017

Facebook recently shut down 'Lifestage', its standalone social networking app that it released a year ago for high schoolers. The Snapchat-like app was intended to help teens find and connect with other classmates who went to their school. Only users aged 21 or younger could sign up for it.

You've Got Mail. Not!

10 Aug, 2017

The tech giant started an email service that offered users an @facebook.com address, in November 2010. However, it was quietly dropped after Facebook admitted that a majority of people weren't using it.

Riff Goes O'er The Cliff!

10 Aug, 2017

Just a few months after launching Snapchat competitor, Riff, a collaborative video creation app for both iOS and Android users in 2015, Facebook plugged the plug on it.
However, the tech giant said that most of the features of the app had been integrated into the main Facebook app and Messenger.

No Takers For Paper

10 Aug, 2017

Facebook shut down Paper, a stand-alone iOS app that was part News Feed, part newsreader, in 2016, two years after its launch. The app changed the user experience with customisable sections for politics, technology, food, and other subjects. However, the app that impressed critics failed to attract a large audience and was consequently shut down.
(Image: Facebook/searchinfomedia)

Slinging A Dud!

10 Aug, 2017

Facebook's third attempt to capture Snapchat's market, named Slingshot, too crashed. Though the idea was to make Slingshot more than a Snapchat clone, you could only view an incoming message (shot) after you send a 'shot' to the sender, Facebook didn't manage to capture the market.
The app was discontinued and removed from the App store and Google Play store in December 2015, after Facebook shut down its Creative Labs division.

Next

0Comments

Want stories like this in your inbox? Sign up for the daily ET Panache newsletter.